Playing not far from their respective New Jersey hometowns and in an arena they are both quite familiar with, Harrington and Thomas were the Knicks' Batman and Robin. The Jersey Boys totaled 41 second-half points and 20 in a huge fourth quarter, leading the Knicks to a 121-109 win before a late-arriving but boisterous crowd of 16,722 at IZOD Center.

"We were on our home soil," said Harrington, who had 39 points and 13 rebounds, a big reason he had a little extra bounce in his step as he pogo-sticked off the court following the final horn. "So we had to show up big."

D'Antoni utilized only seven players in his rotation again, but he might get some help soon because there's a good possibility the Knicks will have a roster spot to fill. Walsh met with Cuttino Mobley and his agent, Andy Miller, yesterday to pore over the results of Mobley's bevy of tests on his ailing heart. An announcement is forthcoming at 1 p.m. today, with all signs pointing to Mobley retiring.

Ironman Chris Duhon actually got a bit more rest than usual, playing "only" 38:25 instead of what's become his usual 48 minutes. When D'Antoni was able to give him a blow, Harrington and even Jared Jeffries saw time at the point, both bringing the ball up court and running the offense.

The Knicks trailed for the entire first half, heading into the break down 63-57, and were behind for half of the third quarter before they finally took their first lead at 74-73 with 6:21 left in the third on Harrington's two free throws. Harrington fed Thomas for a righthanded dunk to put the Knicks ahead 79-78, a lead they didn't relinquish. That dunk was the first of nine straight points scored by Thomas and seemed to really light a fire under the Knicks.

They raced out to a 14-point bulge in the fourth quarter, and were able to enjoy a breather in the closing moments for once on the way to winning for just the third time in 11 road games.

Thomas had 26 points and went 5-for-8 from three-point range. Wilson Chandler bounced back from Tuesday's bad performance in Chicago with 24 points on 10-for-12 shooting and nine rebounds. Duhon had 10 points and 10 assists.

Devin Harris paced the Nets with 32 points and seven assists. He scored 14 consecutive points during one stretch early in the first quarter but was held to 12 in the second half.

"We just came out with a better effort tonight," Thomas said. "We got down early and the guys did a great job of continuing to fight, and we just got on a nice streak and started making shots. The most important thing is we were playing defense first and were just letting the offense come to us. And that's key."

Notes"es: Nate Robinson (groin) worked up a good sweat on the court about an hour and a half before the game, but the Knicks want to be cautious with him. He sat out for the seventh time in eight games ... David Lee bruised his back after getting accidentally upended by Vince Carter with 10:25 left in the third. He checked out of the game with 6:01 left in the quarter and didn't return. Lee, who was whistled for a technical foul with 8:20 left in the first half for yelling at an official, also had his streak of 10 straight double-doubles snapped ... The Knicks improved to 3-2 in the second game of back-to-backs.

Saturday

Knicks at

Sacramento

10 p.m.

TV: MSG

Radio: WEPN (1050)